In 2012, the city's total industrial output was expected to reach 260 billion yuan, and investment in the industrial sector was expected to hit 170 billion yuan.

The value of its retail sales of consumption goods was equal to 21.2 percent of the total amount for the 11 cities in western China.

A survey from The Nielsen Co, a global consulting company, showed Chengdu scored 97 points on the consumer confidence index in the third quarter, 2 points higher than the entire western region did during that period.

Yan Xuan, president of Nielsen Greater China, said Chengdu is the consumer market with the greatest potential among cities in central and western China.

"Both domestic and overseas retail businesses see Chengdu as a good place to develop, which means the competition here will be more fierce," Yan said.

The number of retail stores in Chengdu increased by 25 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2012, even as the number for the country as a whole dropped by 3 percent, according to Nielsen's research.

Chengdu consumers also expressed more optimism about employment prospects in the city. A Nielsen index gauging confidence in the job market rose to 58 points in the third quarter from 51 points in the first half, the consulting company said.

Chengdu's advanced financial market will do much to bolster the city's economy, analysts said.

"Chengdu is paying a lot of attention to the expansion of the financial industry and is setting a goal of building a financial center for western China," said Zhao Changwen, head of the enterprise research institute under the State Council's Development Research Center.

Improving Chengdu's financial system will help advance the country's western development strategy and strengthen the Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone, Zhao said.

Chengdu has a diverse financial system. One reason for that is that small commercial banks have enjoyed success in the city, which has helped add to Chengdu's financing channels and provided support to medium- and small-sized enterprises, said Liu Xiliang, head of the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics' Financial Research Center.

"At the next stage, Chengdu needs to improve international communications and continue with its opening-up strategy, which will consolidate its global influence in the field of economics," Liu said.

Foreign direct investment reached $8.59 billion, a year-on-year increase of 31 percent.

Meanwhile, the city attracted another 26 companies from Fortune Magazine's annual ranking of the world's 500 largest companies during 2012. A total of 233 Top 500 enterprises have now set up business in the city, the most of any among western cities, according to Chengdu Investment Promotion Commission.

chenjia1@chinadaily.com.cn

The plant of Intel Products (Chengdu) Ltd in the capital of Sichuan province. Provided to China Daily